Edupage, November 01, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 01, 2004
Oracle Makes Final Offer for PeopleSoft
Mexico Seeks to Boost Science and Tech Funding
The Growing Problem of Spyware
Chinese Authorities Close Internet Cafes
ORACLE MAKES FINAL OFFER FOR PEOPLESOFT
Oracle has made what it calls its "best and final offer" of $24 a share
in its bid to acquire rival PeopleSoft. Since Oracle began its
attempted hostile takeover, the bid has ranged from $19.50 to $26 per
share, and the board of PeopleSoft has consistently said the offers
undervalue the company. Urged by the Delaware judge hearing arguments
over PeopleSoft's poison pill, Oracle has now made what it says it its
last offer. If, by the November 19 deadline, fewer than 50 percent of
the shares of PeopleSoft have been tendered, Oracle said it will end
its takeover bid. If more than 50 percent are tendered, however, and
the poison pill remains in place, Oracle will ask the Delaware court to
rule on the matter. Experts said that the Delaware court is not likely
to force PeopleSoft to remove the poison pill.
CNET, 1 November 2004
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5433903.html
MEXICO SEEKS TO BOOST SCIENCE AND TECH FUNDING
A bill has passed Mexico's lower house of Congress that would

Edupage, November 03, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 03, 2004
Michigan Virtual University Shifts Focus
Nextel and Verizon Settle Dispute
VoIP Decision Expected Next Week
Virginia Sees First Felony Spam Conviction
MICHIGAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SHIFTS FOCUS
Officials of the Michigan Virtual University have announced a shift in
the organization's focus away from higher education and toward
elementary and secondary schools. Michigan Virtual University helps
other groups develop online educational content, but state funding for
the nonprofit had declined in the past two years, leading to a
significant drop in the size of the staff. Those involved with the
project said that the decision to direct attention away from higher
education does not mean that online higher education in Michigan will
suffer. Much of the organization's work, they noted, has resulted in
sustained efforts to develop online content at many of the state's
colleges and universities, leaving a much smaller demand for Michigan
Virtual University's services than existed several years ago. By
contrast, they said, significant demand remains for such services at
the elementary and secondary education levels.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 November 2004 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i11/11a03001.htm

Edupage, November 05, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 05, 2004
Former Student Charged in University Hacking Case
MPAA to Begin File-Trading Lawsuits
Using Video Games to Improve Athletic Performance
IBM Retakes Lead in Supercomputing Speed Race
FORMER STUDENT CHARGED IN UNIVERSITY HACKING CASE
A former student at the University of Texas (UT) has been indicted on
charges of hacking into the university's computer system and accessing
sensitive information on more than 37,000 students, faculty, and staff.
Christopher Andrew Phillips, who is currently studying computer science
at the University of Houston, used an application that randomly entered
Social Security numbers into UT's network at the rate of about 72,000
per hour. Although Phillips is not charged with illegally using any of
the information he obtained, a federal grand jury returned a four-count
indictment against him for fraud and the intent to defraud. UT spent
$167,000 dealing with the security breach, and, according to the
indictment, UT computer officials had previously had trouble with
Phillips. Phillips's attorney described him as "a nice young man" who
had no intention of doing anything harmful with the information he
accessed.
Houston Chronicle, 5 November 2004
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2885316

Edupage, November 08, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2004
Standardized Test to Measure Technology Literacy
Vendors Collaborate on Security Standards
FTC Calls for an End to New Antispyware Legislation
Microsoft Settles More Suits
STANDARDIZED TEST TO MEASURE TECHNOLOGY LITERACY
Working with representatives of seven universities, the Educational
Testing Service (ETS), which administers the SAT, has developed a new
test to measure how well students apply information technology skills
to solve problems. Students taking the ICT Literacy Assessment exam
will be asked to perform tasks such as build a spreadsheet, write an
e-mail that summarizes a passage, and evaluate the credibility of
online information. Barbara A. O'Connor, a professor of communications
at California State University at Sacramento, was involved in the
development of the exam and said that organizers wanted to expand the
idea of the digital divide. Rather than simply describing the
difference between having technology and not, the term should be
understood to mean the disparity of how that technology is used and how
it is applied to various situations, said O'Connor. The test will be
given starting in January 2005, and for the first year, results will be
provided in the aggregate only. After ETS has developed a baseline for
scoring, test takers will receive individual scores.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 November 2004 (sub. req'd)

Edupage, November 10, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2004
Campus Groups Educate Students about Copyright
FCC Votes to Exempt VoIP from State Regulation
Panel Calls for Increased Federal Support for Technology
Brits Reject Open Access Publishing
Firefox Ready to Take On IE
New Report Links File Trading and Lower CD Sales
CAMPUS GROUPS EDUCATE STUDENTS ABOUT COPYRIGHT
Students at about a dozen colleges and universities have started
organizations called Free Culture groups to educate other students
about copyright and fight what they see as a tilting of the law to
favor copyright owners. The first Free Culture group was started by
Swarthmore College student Nelson Pavlosky, known for his successful
legal challenge to Diebold Election Systems' use of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act in trying to suppress leaked company memos.
Pavlosky and other Free Culture organizers want college-age people to
understand how copyrights have changed in the electronic era,
particularly with respect to legislation such as the proposed Induce
Act. Pavlosky acknowledged that a danger of the Free Culture groups is
that participants will simply be seen as "rich white kids who want free
music." Jessica Litman, a law professor at Wayne State University and a
speaker at a meeting of the Free Culture groups, noted that copyright
law is traditionally written by lobbyists who represent copyright

Edupage, November 12, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2004
USC Center Will Work to Commercialize Technology
PeopleSoft Again Says No to Oracle
Diebold Settles with California
USC CENTER WILL WORK TO COMMERCIALIZE TECHNOLOGY
The University of Southern California (USC) will use a $22 million
donation by a university alumnus to create the Mark and Mary Stevens
Institute for Technology Commercializing in the school of engineering.
Mark Stevens, who received bachelor's and master's degrees from USC,
is a partner at Sequoia Capital, one of the country's leading venture
capital firms. The institute will promote commercialization of
technologies developed at the university, and funding for the institute
will support a staff of patenting, licensing, and marketing
professionals. Although efforts of the institute will focus on
inventions in the school of engineering, it will also work with faculty
in other areas of the university, including the medical school. C. L.
Max Nikias, dean of the university's engineering school, acknowledged
that compared to similarly sized institutions, USC trails behind in its
programs to bring university inventions to commercial markets.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 November 2004 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/11/2004111102n.htm
PEOPLESOFT AGAIN SAYS NO TO ORACLE

Edupage, November 15, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2004
Strong Showing for Online Education
S. Korea Considers Banning N. Korean College Web Site
Sun Offers New Solaris for Free
Yahoo Ups Storage Limits on E-Mail Accounts
STRONG SHOWING FOR ONLINE EDUCATION
According to a new report by the Sloan Consortium, significantly more
students are enrolling in online courses, and the perceived quality of
online education is also rising. The study, which is in its second
year, showed a 19 percent increase in the number of students enrolled
in an online course. The authors of the report expect that number to
grow by another 24 percent in the next year. Growth rates among
private, for-profit institutions outpaces others by a factor of almost
two to one. The study also showed increasing confidence in the quality
of online education, with more than 40 percent of respondents saying
they believe students are at least as satisfied with online courses as
with classroom instruction. According to Jeff Seaman, chief information
officer for the Sloan Consortium and coauthor of the study, small
baccalaureate institutions are the slowest to embrace online learning.
Administrators at those institutions, he said, are more likely to
support small, on-campus classes for the type of educational experience
they provide.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 November 2004 (sub. req'd)

Edupage, November 17, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2004
College Blocks Hotmail and Yahoo to Fight Spam
Researchers Announce Distributed Grid
Project to Post Historical Newspapers Online
MPAA Files File-Trading Lawsuits
Tracking Schoolchildren with Computer Tags
COLLEGE BLOCKS HOTMAIL AND YAHOO TO FIGHT SPAM
Frustrated with the problem of spam and unable to afford antispam
software packages, officials at Guam Community College have implemented
a policy that blocks all mail from Hotmail or Yahoo--favorites with
spammers--from being delivered to college e-mail accounts. Exceptions
are made for return addresses that are on the institution's list of
legitimate addresses. Currently, the college only provides e-mail
accounts to faculty and staff, and many students rely on Hotmail or
Yahoo accounts to keep in touch with faculty or to turn in assignments,
prompting many complaints about the policy. The policy has resulted in
significantly less spam, and the college's technical staff are
spending much less time dealing with the spam that does get through.
Still, many members of the faculty do not support the policy, saying
that whatever benefits it provides do not outweigh the problems it
causes. Joe St. Sauver of the University of Oregon Computing Center and
an expert on spam issues said the tactic of blocking Hotmail and Yahoo
has been tried before but that most institutions dropped it because

Edupage, November 19, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2004
Google Launches Service for Academics
Congress Approves Increased Support for Supercomputing
British Library Goes Wireless
House Agrees to Extend Ban on Internet Tax
GOOGLE LAUNCHES SERVICE FOR ACADEMICS
Google this week launched a service directed at academics and
scientists looking for scholarly material. Google Scholar is the
product of cooperation between Google and a number of academic
publishers including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers and the Online Computer Library Center. The service provides
access to peer-reviewed papers, books, and technical reports, as well
as information about locating scholarly work that is available at
libraries but not online. Google's Anurag Acharya, who directed
development of the new service, noted that the company benefited from
and grew out of an academic environment and said that Google Scholar
"is one of the ways we can give back to the community." Acharya said
the service would give universal access to academic and scientific
literature from around the world. Initially the service will not
include text advertisements with search results, though company
officials said such ads will likely be added later.
New York Times, 18 November 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/18/technology/18google.html

Edupage, November 22, 2004

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2004
Oracle Continues Acquisition Fight
Report Raises Questions over Educational Benefit of Computers
Senate Approves Stricter Copyright Legislation
ORACLE CONTINUES ACQUISITION FIGHT
Oracle has vowed to continue its efforts to acquire rival PeopleSoft,
after a majority of PeopleSoft's outstanding shares were tendered by
last Friday's deadline. Despite the number of shares tendered, the
PeopleSoft Board of Directors on Saturday again rejected Oracle's bid
of $24 per share. One of the PeopleSoft directors sent a letter
Saturday night to Oracle executives urging them to raise the offer, but
the company has said that $24 is its last and best offer. Oracle had
promised that if fewer than half of the shares were tendered by the
deadline, it would end its hostile takeover bid. The company also said
that if more than half were tendered, it would ask a Delaware court to
force PeopleSoft to withdraw its "poison pill," which automatically
issues more shares in the event of a takeover, making such an
acquisition virtually impossible. Legal experts said such a ruling is
unlikely, which would leave Oracle with the possibility of presenting a
slate of board candidates who would be friendly to the acquisition.
Four of PeopleSoft's seven board seats are up for election next
spring.
New York Times, 22 November 2004 (registration req'd)